Raghu Rai: Bangladesh War and Lost Treasures.
When Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated there were pictures of him blown into pieces. If I was there I would not take the photos that way. I am not condemning anyone else’s work -but at the same time that is not the way I would do things. I would like it to be more symbolic and take photos that bring out the suffering in a subtle way not the brutal way’’ , he says.
Taaza-Khabar: A Nation of Newspaper Readers
Wherever he went in India, photojournalist Sanjay Austa, found people in rural and urban areas devouring the daily newspaper. Even in metros, where a large number of people use public transport. It was a stark contrast to what he had found abroad, in countries like the US, where people preffered reading books.
Through an Art Student’s Eye.
Its always intriguing how the audience interpret your work- whether its a poem, a book, a film or photographs. Surfing the internet, I found this video presentation on three of my photo-essays by an art student in the US.
Interview in Kyoorius Magazine
Sanjay Austa is a name to be reckoned with in the world of photojournalism in India. Austa started out as a journalist and gradually switched to photography. His first assignment as a photojournalist was an ardous expedition to Kanchenjunga where he documented the indian army’s climb to the summit.
Austa asserts that for a photojournalist the story behind a photo is every thing, ”Most of the photo-essays I work on are stories which I think are important to me…
An Interview with Documentary Photographer Sanjay Austa
Sanjay Austa is a Delhi based documentary photographer who is widely published in International Media including the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic Traveller, The Sunday Guardian, Departures, Centurion, Mint-WSJ, Outlook Traveller etc. His photo-feature on the 1984 anti-Sikh Delhi riots was exhibited in California and UK by various human rights groups in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Nainital- India’s Lake District.
Many years ago when I visited Nainital for the first time , it was a relief to see the lake so polluted . If you belong to a hill station like me, you tend to look at another hill-station with a sense of competition. My hometown, Shimla, I happily concluded, is after all the best hill-station in India.
But on a recent visit to Nainital, I was astonished to see the Naini Lake far from the dump it was many years ago. It was all spruced up and crystal clean. There was no longer any debris floating on its surface and the horrid smell had gone. I had to reluctantly admit that Nanital is possibly India’s most beautiful hill station.
Flirting With History. The Ruins of Farrukhnagar
But all this seems distant on the short drive along double-barrelled Basai Road, which makes its way through the villages of Dhankot and Chandu and past Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, undulating through multi-coloured fields of mustard, wheat and marigolds. The drive is a pleasure; the road is in good condition and lined with fruit sellers peddling seasonal wares right from the orchards. Farmland lines the road, retreating into gentle hillocks that mark the beginning of the Aravalli Hills. Farrukhnagar appears in a traffic jam of lorries, buses and cycles resembling most small Indian towns until one reaches the old quarter with its distinctive Mughal architecture.
Jim Corbett National Park- You Don’t come here for the Tigers.
But it is not just my resort. Joining the chorus are many others. I can hear the distant boom of the music (Sheela Ki Jawani) across the forest valley well after light out. Tourists drink and dance till wee hours of the night. And in the morning they don’t care too much if they miss the safari.